IR comm and the MCP2150

I have come across a tutorial that uses a PIC tx/rx and runs it to the MCP2150 where it encodes this in to IRcomm(?) protocol but i am wondering what this signal looks like and how it works,...

in short i cannot use this chip so i want to learn how the chip encodes things so I can send bites and maybe words to my laptop! (and in to a terminal program if I Can)

but where do I start?

Start here: Welcome to IrDA and Hifi-Remote.com

I know nearly zip about the IRDA port and I know a little about IR remote control from the second site.